South Philly Review

The administrators at the Free Library of Philadelphia breathed a sigh of relief last month after weeks of uncertainty about the library system's future.

"Everyone was so relieved," library spokeswoman Sandy Horrocks said. "It was a very difficult time for the staff not knowing if they would have jobs or not."

It also was difficult for residents, wondering whether their local library would be shuttered, she added. Oct. 5, the library launched new hours that were developed for the budget passed by City Council in May to counter staff shortages brought on by a hiring freeze. To find the most suitable way to reach the largest number of citizens, the system's staff devised a five-day week and paired branches so people could use an alternative location when their closest branch was closed.

Of the six local branches, three are opened Monday to Friday while three are opened Tuesday to Saturday. Whitman, 200 Snyder Ave., is paired with Charles Santore, 932 S. Seventh St., while Fumo Family, 2437 S. Broad St., is coupled with Thomas F. Donatucci Sr., 1935 Shunk St., and Queen Memorial, 1201 S. 23rd St., is grouped with the South Philadelphia branch, 1700 S. Broad, to allow each pair to provide six-day service. Whitman, Fumo and Queen do not have Saturday service, whereas the other three will be closed Mondays. All branches will remain closed on Sundays.

"We feel that people who work need those Saturday hours and we're trying to make as many hours as possible in each community," Horrocks said.

Prior to the new schedule, the Free Library stretched its staff across all 54 branches, which resulted in emergency closings throughout the summer with five to seven citywide shutdowns a week. Staffing was the starting point in determining the new schedule and, in its first week, there were only one or two emergency closings, Horrocks said.

"What was the best way to deploy our staff to give the maximum number of hours for our customers?," Horrocks asked rhetorically as the reasoning behind the decision. "And one of the goals that [Free Library President and Director] Siobhan [Reardon] had was that every community has some Saturday hours. So that's why the pairing plan was developed."

The library system and its supporters have been on a roller-coaster ride this past year. In November, Fumo Family and Queen Memorial were two of the 11 branches citywide slated to close when Mayor Michael Nutter restructured the budget in the face of a massive budget shortfall. At that time, 111 positions were eliminated.

After an uproar from citizens, Nutter agreed to leave the facilities open through June 30 following a court ruling stating he did not have the power to close any City building without first running it by Council. The mayor filed an appeal, but soon dropped it and, for fiscal year 2009, refused to close any libraries. But he also did not reverse the earlier layoffs.

When the City was awaiting the General Assembly's OK to move forward on increasing revenue with two measures -- raising the sales tax to 8 percent, which was initiated last Thursday, and a revamp of the pension plan -- the City threatened to implement its doomsday budget that could have shut down all 54 libraries, laying off about 500 workers. Set to take effect Oct. 5, the new schedule took its place when the Senate concurred with the House in passing House Bill 1828 Sept. 18 leaving libraries open with a $32 million budget.

The long road to what Friends of the Free Library Executive Director Amy Dougherty calls a "shared sacrifice" can be attributed to residents making their voices heard.

"Clearly, the City of Philadelphia has a great love of its libraries and we should be grateful for that," she said.

Programs will be adjusted to run on days when a specific library has hours, including Saturdays for branches with weekend times.

Hopefully the library system's budget will return to its more than $40 million in the future, but, though the arrangement is not perfect, this is a win for now, Dougherty said.

"It's as good as it's going to get and that's the important thing that every resident in the city will still have access to a library close to their home," she said.

While the hours are set, more damage has been done to the Free Library following the approval of the state budget last Friday. The Free Library had received $9.6 million in the past, but with the 20 percent cut that was approved, that funding goes down to $7.7 million and will affect the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, 919 Walnut St., as well as online databases and materials.